Amusement game apparatus



B. RADTKE AMUSEMENT GAME APPARATUS June 22, 1937.

Original Filed Aug. 24. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Bruno Radzhe M Witness: fl

H/5 ATTORNEY5.

June 22, 1937. DTK 2,084,452

AMUSEMENT GAME APPARATUS Original Filed Aug. I 24, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Bruno Radflie WiZness: 96%, JS HIS ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 22, 1937 earner AMUSEMENT GAME APPARATUS Bruno Radtlre, Chicago, 111., assigncr to John F. Meyer, Chicago, iii.

application August 24, 1934, Serial No.

and this appiication August My invention relates to certain novel improvements in amusement game apparatus, and has for its principal object the provision of an improved construction of this character which will be economical in manufacture and afford the greatest amount of amusement.

The present application is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 741,203, filed August 24, 1934 upon a Game apparatus.

Among the several objects of this invention is to embody in a game apparatus an arrangement for propelling a ball or a plurality of balls upwardly upon an inclined play board for passage into and through score bearing exit openings by means of mechanism controlled in its operation by a projected ball passing through another exit opening provided by the play board, all to the amusement of and by the skill of the operator.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a play board having an area, passage upon which is obstructed in a manner such that one or more balls are first collected in a runway and then subsequently permitted to gravitate therefrom, after being released for such gravitation, by means of mechanism operated by another ball passing through one of several exit openings formed in the play board, the balls thus released from said runway being permitted to gravitate to a position against a ball stop of a re-projection device which when operated is adapted to re-project the balls back upon said area of the play board into and through score bearing ball exit openings formed in the play board within said area.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, showing the preferred form of construction and in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an amusement game apparatus embodying the invention; I

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional detail view of the same taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the invention illustrating the ball retaining means and ball re-projecting means embodied in the invention;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional detail view of the invention taken substantially on line ibi of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional detail view of th invention taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. l;

6 is a bottom plan view of the invention taken substantialiy on line -'-fi of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatical plan view of an electric circuit embodied in the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings illustrating the preiered form of construction of my invention, a cabinet indicated at iii and includes a glass top (not shown) beneath which is arran ed a play board i i.

This play board H has formed therein a plurality of ball exit openings 82, all or many of which may be indicated by a numerical score.

At one side of the play board ii is a ramp l3 through which balls it are projected by a projecting or propelling device upon the play board H which is inclined to permit the balls thus propelled thereupon to gravitate toward the lower end thereof, the balls being elevated into projecting position with respect to the propelling device it by means of any suitable elevating mechanism (not shown) including an operating plunger iii.

Slidably supported beneath the play board I! in any suitable manner, such as. for example, by means of brackets ii, is a gate it having formed therein openings 29 adapted to register under certain conditions with the ball exit openings E2, the said gate being operated simultaneously with the operation of a coin siide 2 of a coin device 2! in a well known manner, to bring the openings l9 into registration with the exit openings l2 to permit the balls to through the openings 59 upon a floor 2! where the balls are gravitated to a position to be elevated by the elevating means iii to the propelling device H5.

The description of the construction of the amusement game apparatus thus far set forth is well known in the art of amusement game apparatus.

My invention, as previously pointed out, particularly relates to a novel and efficient means for re-projecting balls upon an area of the play board where the balls are again permitted to gravitate to a position for passage into and through ball exit openings. The invention also contemplates means to collect the balls within a runway where the balls are thus held until released, for movement to the re-projection mechanism; by mechanism operated by the action of another ball passing through one of several of the exit openings 92.

In this connection, while I have shown the play board ll defining an area within which the balls are to be re-projected, it" is to be looted for re-gravitation down upon the board.

' an opening 25.

understood that the ball re-projecting means may be utilized in connection with the play board without having anyspecific area defined over which these balls are adapted'to be re-pro- To accomplish the several objects of the in vention, this area is defined by rail members 22,

sections of which are brought into parallel relationship with respect to each other as at 23 to provide a runway 24 having a funnel shaped en trance 24'. In this runway 24 there is formed Normally closing this opening is a trap door .26 hinged to the play board as at 27. ,This trap door is normally moved into ball releasing position by movement of the'gate l8. This gate. l8 is connected to a depending arm, 28 of the trap door by means of a rod 29 so that, when the gate l6i's moved by action of the coin slide 29 in a well known manner, the trap door 24 will simultaneously pivot therewith into ball, releasing or discharging position. r r Preferably, though not necessarily, the return movement of thegate l8 and trapdoor 26 is governed by an air pump 30 having connection pendi'rigfapplication;Serial"No. 715,573, filed in the United States Patent Oilicegon or about with the .arm 28 through the medium. of the linklelements 3|, thesaid pump being substantially similar to that shown and 'd'escribed'in my the 14th day of March, 1934; V

V To releasably hold balls in the runway 24,;1

'uponapivot pin33for movement in a horizontal -plane,*the said pin 33being supported by a suitable bracket 34:adapted tobesecured toprovide a ball stop arm 32 pivotally supported the underside of theplay' board ll by'm'eansjof an attaching element (not shown) projected through openings 35 formed in a wall of'the bracket 34. The. stop arm 32 is provided with a depending portion. 36;;Fig. ,2, the lower end of which provides oppositely disposed arms 31 and 38, the arm 38 having one end of a spring 39 attached thereto, the other end of the'spring 'being attached to a depending lug 40 provided by thebracket 3| whereby the spring will normally hold'the arm in ball stopping position; When a number of balls have been collected in the runway 24 and the ball stop arm 3215 released for pivotal movement, in a manner hereinafter. set. forth, the downwardly inclined V weightof the balls I4 will automatically pivot the arm in. a directionto permitthe ba1ls l4. to passupon the area of the play board; I! defined by the rail elements 22 into position against the ball re-projecting device hereinafter referred n g The ballstop arm 32 is operatively controlled by electro magnetic means which end portion of a latch arm '46 which is pivotally supported by the bracket 34 as at '41. 1

This latch arm 46 is provided with an en- I larged head 48 having a two-stepped notch 49 formed therein with the bottom of one. portion of the notch indicated at 50 disposed in a plane ,2,os4,452 V V V V beneath the other portion of the notch indicated at 5|. V

The arm 31 projects into the notch 49 as best shown in Fig. 3. 7 When the solenoid arm 44 is disposed in an ineffective position with respect to the latch arm 46, the icounterweighted end portion '45 of the latch arm 46 will pivot the latter (clockwise,

Fig. 2) into a positionto dispose the arm 31 in,

the notch' portion 49 and when this arm 31 is thus so disposed, it will engage the vertical edge 7 52 of the notch 49 and thereby releasably hold the ball stop arm 32 against pivotal movement by the action of the balls I4 inthe runway 24..

' When the electro-magnetic solenoid 4| is en'- ergized in a manner to. be hereinafter set forth,

the solenoid .01 armature 44 is lifted and engages and pivots the latch arm 46 (counterclockwise, Fig. 2), thereby causing the latch head 48 'to engage thearm 31 and move the latter (left to right, Fig. 3) onto the notched portion"5l of themember 46--48, thereby permitting the balls in the runway '24; to gravitatetherefrom into the area of the play board. defined by..-the rails 22. After the balls have passed from'the runway 24, the spring 39 will: act to reset the: 1

- stop arm .32jinto ball stopping position. ;When

thus reset, the portion,3'ljof the stoparm, 32

i will againbe disposed in thenotch portion .50 I

and, by reason of the hook shaped head 48, the stop arm 32lwill be held againstpivotalmove 'ment by the action of any balls collected in the runway 24.

V I have referred to the mechanism indicated at :R, as a'ball re-projecting means so asfto dis-' tinguishthe same from the main ball propelling "device l5 andfor the further reason'that this 7 mechanism re-projectsballs 'upon the play board n after the balls have been.projected'thereupon by the propelling device and have found passage through the runway 24 and onto the area of the play board defined by therailsZZ. This mechanism- R comprises a U-shaped plate 93 adapted to be securedto the underside of the play board, adjacent'the edges of an elongated opening 55 formedin theplay board H, by means of attaching screws 54. This plate is provided .with oppositely disposed upstanding lugs 56 to which are pivotally supported the 7 parallel arms 51 of a kick-bar 58; V This kick-bar includes a vertically extending wall 59 from the top edge 69,0f which extendsahood 6| which is semi-circular in cross section.

One of the parallel arms 51, indicated at 62, 7

provides a depending finger ,63 adaptedl to be engaged by the head 64 of a hammer-arm '65..

This arm 65 is r p vo -support das at as by j a bracket'lil.

The end 68 of the arm 65 at oneside of the pi lf otal connection SG carriesa plate 69 which is adapted to 'beattractedby the pole 10 ofa mags.

netic coil 7! with such force as will be sufllcient Q to bring the head 64 in hammer-action against the finger 63 so as to forcibly pivot the kick-bar 58 against balls resting thereagainst, so as to project these balls upwardly upon'the inclined board either directly into the exit openings indicated at 12 or against pin elements '13 for possible deflection into these openings 12;;the bar 58 being res'et'after this operation by its resetting spring 92. s

The hammer-arm is nicely balanced above its pivot66 and in this balance it is assisted by action of a spring 14.

'Forwardly of this mechanism ,R and mounted in an extension 15 of the opening 55 is a ball release plate 16 which is pivotally supported by the play board as at I? through the medium of parallel extending ears 18 and a pintle 19. This plate 16 is normally held in ball supporting position through the medium of a spring and is adapted to support the balls in front of the bar 58.

Movement of the plate 16 into ball releasing position is controlled by the gate l8 and this is accomplished by mounting upon the gate I8 a forwardly extending finger 8|, the outer end of which engages an adjacent portion 82 of the plate 16 and thereby acts to hold this plate 16 in ball supporting position when the gate I8 is in a position to support the balls l4 in the exit openings l2.

The magnetic coil H is disposed in the circuit provided by the conductor wires 43. The electric energy to this magnetic coil as well as to the solenoid 4| is controlled by means of a ball actuated switch indicated at S, the construction of which will now be explained:

This switch includes spaced contact arms 83 adapted to be momentarily contacted by means of a connector bar 84 supported by the enlarged tail 85 of the switch arm 86 which arm is pivotally supported by a pin 81 carried by side walls 88 of a ball trough 89. The ball trough 89 is disposed beneath one of the exit openings indicated at 90 and which I prefer to term the master exit opening. The arrangement is such that a ball passing through this master exit opening 90 will drop upon the arm 86, pivot the same in a direction to bring the bar 84 against the contact arms 83, thereby to complete an electric circuit between the source of electric energy 42 and the magnetic coil H and solenoid 4|.

Pins or other baffles indicated at 91 may be disposed in pre-determined positions upon the play board to increase the necessary skill of the game.

The amusement game apparatus is played as follows:

A coin is inserted in the slide 20 and when this slide 28 is moved inwardly the gate I8 is moved into ball releasing position and simultaneously therewith, the trap 28 and the plate 16 move into ball releasing position so that if any balls are positioned upon the trap 26 and plate 16 or within the exit openings l2, they will be released for movement to a position to be successively elevated into position to be projected by the propelling device I! upon the play board, whereupon these balls as successively projected upon the play board may find entrance into the runway 24 where they will collect against the arm 32.

Should the next ball find passage through the master exit opening 98 the same will operate the switch structure S and thereby complete a. circuit between the source of electric energy 42 and the solenoid 4|. Upon operation of the solenoid 4!, the weight of the balls l4 will pivot the arm 32 after the same has been released for this pivotal movement in a manner hereinbefore set forth.

Upon release of these balls they will pass within the area provided by the rails 22 and gravitate into a position to be re-projected upon the area thus defined by these rails 22 by the projecting means R hereinbefore described. Should the next ball projected by the propelling means [5 upon the play board I I find entrance through the master exit opening 90 this ball will operate, as stated before, the switch S and complete an electric circuit between the source of electric energy 42 and the magnetic coil II, whereupon the magnetic coil 1| thus energized will operate the hammer 65 in hammer-like action, striking the kick-bar 58 against the balls collected thereagainst and project these balls back upon the area Within the rails 22 to find lodgment in the exit openings 12 or again return into engagement with the kick-bar 58, as the case may be.

This operation is continued until the allotted number of balls has been propelled upon the play board, which allotted number of balls may vary according to the usage or construction of the game.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into eiiect, this is capable of variation and modification, without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A ball retaining device comprising a supporting bracket, a ball-obstructing arm pivotally supported by said bracket for movement through a horizontal plane and having a portion thereof providing a latch finger, and a latch member pivotally supported by said bracket and having a head provided with a two-stepped notch for the reception of said latch finger.

2. A ball retaining device for a game apparatus in which there is provided a play board having a ball exit opening or pocket formed therein and said board having a runway upon its surface through which balls are adapted to pass, comprising a stop arm pivotally supported by the board for horizontal movement into and from ball-obstructing position in said runway, latch means for said arm including a head cooperating with the arm and with the weight of one or more balls disposed against said arm to hold said arm in ballobstructing position, and means actuated by a ball entering said ball exit opening or pocket for actuating said latch means to release said arm for movement from said ball-obstructing position by movement of the balls through said runway.

3. A ball retaining device for a game apparatus in which there is provided a play board having a ball exit opening formed therein and said board having a runway upon its surface through which balls are adapted to pass, comprising a stop arm pivotally supported by the board for horizontal movement into and from ball-obstructing position in said runway, latch means for said arm including a head cooperating with the arm and with the weight of one or more balls disposed against said arm to hold said arm in ball-obstructing position, and means including an electromagnetic device actuated by a ball passing throuh said exit opening for actuating said latch means to release said arm for movement from said ball-obstructing position by movement of the balls through said runway.

4. A ball retaining device for a game apparatus in which there is provided a play board having a ball exit opening formed therein and having a runway upon its surface through which balls are into and from ball-obstructing position in said runway, latch means for said arm including a head cooperating with the arm and with the weight of one or more balls disposed against said arm to hold said arm in ball-obstructing position, and means actuated by a ball passing through said exit opening for actuating. said latch means to release said arm for movement fromsaid ballobstructing position by movement or" the bails through said runway, said head having means cooperating with said .arm when the Weight of the said balls is disposed against said arm to hold said latch means from latched position with respect to said arm until all of the said balls have passed through said runway.

5. A ball retaining device for a game apparatus in which there is'provided a play board having a ball exit opening formed therein and having a runway upon its surface through which balls are adapted to pass, comprising a stop arm pivotally supported by the board for horizontal movement said latch means from. latched position with respect to said arm until all of the said balls have passed through said runway.

I 6. A ball retaining device comprising a supporting bracket, a ball-obstructing arm pivotally supported by said bracket for movement through a horizontal plane and having a "portion thereof providing a latch finger, a latch member pivotally supportedby said bracket and having a headprovided with a two-stepped notch for the reception of said latch finger, and magnetic means for oper ating said latch member.

7. An amusement game apparatus comprising an inclined board having an opening formed therein and upon which balls are adapted to be projected for gravitation thereupon, means for projecting said balls upon said board, a trap door pivotally supported in said opening, means proe viding with said trap door a runway, an arm pivotally supported bysaid board for :horizontal movement into and from ball-obstructing position in said runway and adapted, whenin ballobstructing position, to obstruct the balls upon said trapdoor, latch means for said arm for 1atch-' ing said arm in said ball-obstructing position, and magnetic means for actuating said latch means to permit movement of said arm from ball-obstructing position by the weight of the balls against said arm.

BRUNO RADTKE. 

